At the risk of a jinx . . third time's the charm!

My yummy hempy T-shirt is well underway! The lacey bit is all done, the eyelets are all done, now I'm on to st st rounds. I really want to have it all done and ready for the TTC-along on June 9. It's a very motivated knit! Here it is, thus far:Doesn't look like much. It needs a good blocking. Oh, and the rest of it needs to be knit on of course.

Here is a blurry photo of the button Amy R. Singer gave me on Friday -- see how well it goes with my knitting bag? We were meant for each other!








I'm absolutely aching for peonies!

They're so close . . .

they tease me . . .

it's not fair! I want them NOW!








Instead, I get Lilacs. They smell fantastic, and they're lovely. . . but they aren't peonies!!

The best weekend ever!

So Friday night was incredible - simply incredible. I have never attended a knitting event before. I have always been too busy, too introverted, or too interested in staying home and knitting. Friday night was the Canadian launch of the Yarn Harlot's latest book - Casts Off.
I was informed/invited by the fabulous LYS lay-dee Lynne who advised me that she had a car load of knitters going. I have always said no to Lynne's offers -- I figured if I continued saying no, she would stop inviting. So I said yes. And in the back of my head I said 'but I'm not going to like it'.
I took Friday off work. I got off to a bumpy start with my mom making a surprise visit at T minus 60 minutes . . thank heavens I had to get going! She would have been here all day, I'm sure.

Cut to the car ride to Toronto. There is something to be said for flying down the highway with 2 socks, a dishcloth and a hempy t-shirt on the go . . .

We got to the bookstore slightly late. There was standing room only, which frankly didn't surprise any of us. Stephanie's 'speech' was absolutely engaging! What a wonderful speaker - she themed on the misconceptions surrounding knitters and knitting, and basically sternly warned anyone listening not to underestimate the power that we wield. Okay, so I enjoyed that bit -- now we're heading to the after party . . I'm so not a pub/bar girl. Once again that voice in the back of my head chimed in . . . 'I'm not going to like it!'

I have to admit that I'm surprised at just how much I liked it. The whole thing. Start to finish. I met some great new people - before Friday, I was pretty much convinced that I was the only knitter in the whole world, and that the rest of it was just an elaborate ruse. Now I know that to be false. There are bazillions of knitters! And I think they all live in Toronto. The last place I would expect . . .
There was an amazing power to gathering and knitting and just being there. My knitty mojo has returned full force, I am on the way to knitting nirvana!
I think/I hope I have made some new knitting friends - Lynne, of course - and also Barbara, who is just getting her knitting obsession underway.

Now here is something that thrilled me to pieces. I was sitting on my barstool, knitting my lacey hemp top, when Amy R. Singer drifted by. (Be still my heart!) I love her for Knitty.com and all the implications it has had in my knitting life. I struck up a very small conversation with her -- and she gave me her I (heart) knitty button!! Thrill!


yeah, so anyway . . . Friday night was super good for my soul. Didn't get to speak to Stephanie at all . . . but completely satisfying nonetheless.
** how did I not publish this? . . . oops **

starting over . . . again.

How many times do you think I can frog hemp and still have it come out reasonably decent looking? I had to start my T-shirt over again!
Try 2 . . . oh the misery! Oh the error! I screwed up somewhere, but because it is 225 stitches around, figuring out where the mistake happened, and how many rows ago was simply not plausible. Groan.
Without thinking, I took it off the needle, and pulled back a number of rows . . but when I went to put it back on the needle, what did I realize? Oh yes, that's right -- it's knit in the round. Where is the beginning of the round? Well now, that is a truly excellent question.
And so I am back at row one.

Agonizing.

I really just want to wear this T-shirt!

An Ode to Batty

Ah, Batty, how I do love you!
You comment on my blog with every new post.
It's your comments that keep me blogging . . because otherwise I would think I was blogging into empty space, and that isn't nearly as much fun.
There are others who comment frequently - but not as consistently as you.

You're wonderful!

Thanks for reading.

And to everyone who comments or even just reads, you all rock!

I have pictures!

To make up for my text heavy posts of late.

I've been doing quite a bit of sewing lately. First, I made a needle roll and bag for Blu Roux. Then I made some stuff for me:From left to right. A new knitting bag - with a zipper. I'm not overly impressed . . but it has a lot of space in it! A new polka dot bag to hold my cheapy dpns and circs. A marked improvement over the plastic bag they were in before. A Really Nice needle roll for myself. And finally, my favourite ever knitting bag, messenger style, love it.

Here's something else that I made a while ago, and haven't posted yet. This is how I store my good dpns. Or, the dpns with the sizes written on them.


I love this mini-roll. It's adorable!

And here is my hemp T-shirt in progress -- and the inside of my messenger knitting bag . . .










Because I live in Amish country, as I stepped out of the house to take these photos, a horse drawn carriage was trotting past my house. I tried to snap a pic, alas . . the batteries were dead. Some other time, perhaps . . . actually, I think it would be fun to showcase my little town.

High Hopes . . .

Swear to Doug, I fully intend to publish 2 blog entries each week . . . and then suddenly it's Saturday at 1 in the morning, and I can hardly keep my eyes open. And I'm typing.

This week has been action packed. I hardly feel I can do it justice at this juncture. I will add pictures . . . later.

I was drawn to ye Olde LYS multiple times this week. I've been aching to try my hand at hemp. Or linen. Either will do. I was really hoping my IK would show up, so I can do the tuxedo top in linen . . still waiting.
As I was saying though, multiple LYS visits . . . I can't even remember what I bought the first time around. Oh wait, yes I do. Stuff for Blu Roux's package. And it made me late for work. But the very next day, I found myself once again nestled into the warm and comforting bosom of my LYS.
I pawed the hemp. I groped it. I would have made a pubescent boy proud . . . and then it happened -- Lynne (employee extraordinaire) enabled my hemp lust. She showed me to the pattern binder, and within the plastic bound pages, I saw it -- the most beautiful lacy t-shirt pattern I have ever seen. Angels sang. The clouds parted. It was a moment of pure perfection. And it was patterned for hemp!
So I bought the pattern. And all the stuff.
And then the 'fun?' began.
This stuff is a nightmare to wind -- I spent my entire shift (7 1/2 hours) detangling and fighting with it while taking calls. Then I cast on 225 stitches. I joined, being careful not to twist, and I worked 3 rounds in garter stitch. Then I went to bed.
The next morning, Mr. Wonderful had to get up very early. He was so considerate! He did everything he could not to wake me -- and then he did the one thing that would, without a doubt, wake me -- he informed me (at 6:20am) that the cat was playing with my knitting.
Suddenly, I had visions of those 225 x 3 stitches all unraveled and messy. I couldn't sleep. I got up and collected the tangled yarn from the floor, re-wound it, and started knitting again. Three hours later, I came out of my knitting fog, and went about my day. And I knitted. But only a little. So I had to bring it to work with me.
By this point I was at the lace bit. I was a few repeats in -- I wanted to keep going! but I did not want to bring the pattern to work with me again . . . I wrote out the lace repeats and took that to work instead.

Today I realized, several inches in that when I wrote it out, I effed up the pattern . . . I started the repeat from the wrong spot . . . groan. So I frogged it . . . and I knitted it all day today . . . and now I'm a few lace repeats in again, and it looks much better!
I really want to wear this top. It's beautiful!
I have such high hopes.

And that's just the knitting!

At work, I have been elected the new co-ordinator of the Events Planning Crew . . . basically, the fun-squad. That's pretty exciting. :D

I'm sure there's more, but I really need to go to bed. YAWN.

House livin' is GOOD!

I have had a rockin' good weekend. Really - and I thought it would go up in smoke . . . but here we are, 8pm on Sunday evening, and life is sweet.

Friday afternoon Mr. Wonderful and I got all our little ducks in a cute row, and realized we had colossally effed up -- we had not made Mother's Day plans for our moms. Well, to be fair, for him it was not a last minute realization . . . he just isn't super motivated to pick up the phone after the blow out of last year's mothers day (he went all out, wanted to take her to a fancy restaurant, and she blew him off - he was offended. It was super messy). So I emailed and called and pulled a gathering out of my bum for his mom. All while I was still at work. I am a super-human wife.

Saturday morning, I leapt out of bed at the crack of dawn (thanks to the thunderous chorus of birds) ready to greet the day. I did some sewing for Liz (aka Blu Roux) - I hope she likes it - and then trotted off to the mall. See, I need some summer pants. Something for my legs that is not too hot, like my cords are. Something that is not 'puffy' and makes me look dumpy, like my capris. I need me some more pants for the un-godly hot summer that is purportedly coming our way.
I went to Zellers first - everything there gave me camel toe, or was too big.
Then I went to Winners - there was some nice stuff, but it was not precisely what I was looking for. Sigh.
Then I went to a florists, and fought people for flowers. It was a total madhouse. $50 later, I had mother's day stuff for our moms.
As I paid, I realized that no plans had been conveyed to me about my mom's day . . . hmmmm . . . so I called. No answer. I left a message.
Long story short, my brother bailed out on Mother's day, and it was all up to me. Gee, I wish I had known. I invited them over for Sunday lunch.
Then we raced around like idiots cleaning and tidying and generally preparing for the visiting.
My Mother-in-law's visit was great! She and her husband, and Mr. Wonderful's younger sister and her husband came over for an early dinner. We sat in our backyard, we prepared food in my huge (compared to our old apartment) kitchen, we had a generally great time.
We even made Pina Coladas!
Today, we had a repeat, only with lunch, and sans the running around.
Now, I have to say, I think that once you get to a certain age, you should be absolved of Mother's Day BS. Seriously. I haven't asked my mom to Mother me in years. And she doesn't. In all honesty, we really don't get along. The less we have to talk, the better. She has told me she finds my conversation tedious, and while the feeling is mutual, I have the decency to keep it to myself. So buying her a gift and all that - well, it's kind of an empty gesture. I'm pretty sure that's why my brother saw fit to remove himself from the fray this go around.
And my mom is not low maintenance at all. She's not the type who would accept a card and a phone call. You have to be appropriately appreciative (read: spend lots of $$). Okay, I understand that she birthed me, and raised me - but I get her flowers every year for MY birthday, I give her a card and take the time to say thanks for the gift of life. My birthday was what? 6 weeks ago? Really, I feel like she's just cashing in. I'm past the point of going all out, aren't I? I haven't lived under her roof for 7 years now. I think I've paid her back - or at least, I think she should be happy with a card and a phone call.
And it doesn't stop there - she wants us to do the same for my dad on Father's day -- in fact, she told me that for this year, I should buy him the table saw he wants. It's $700. $700!!!
I don't think so.

Other happy stuff from the weekend: I have also learned that I have peony bushes in my yard! Peonies are my favourite flowers . . . they're almost open . . . ooooo . . . I can't wait!!
And I have lilies . . . I love having a garden. It's so exciting.

Now that winter is past, I'm really seeing the benefit of having a house. And I love it!

Progress!

Serious progress . . . I had another week of finishing it off . . .

Found the missing needles - right where I left them! So here is my new shrug -- I think it may be my niece's birthday gift. It's a little snug.

And then I polished off Fetching quickly -- as you can see, it's no longer glove weather here, but I'll be prepped for fall, I suppose.

And this - well, this thrills me to death! I found the ultimate sweater-that-is-too-dull-to-knit-at-home-even-in-front-of-the-tv knitting zone! WORK! I always knit at work, and thus far, I haven't been reprimanded (touch wood). When I realized that I didn't have shrug to knit at work anymore, I figured I might as well bring in the dirge sweater. I didn't think it would work - but before you know it, I was decreasing for armholes! WOO!

This week in Knitting

I feel so un-inspiring . . . nothing wildly entertaining or exciting seems to happen to me. Blah.

I have to say though -- I'm tired of thinking I'm pregnant, or may be pregnant, or could be pregnant every single month!! Although, this is the first month with a test that may back that up - it's getting old. My cycle needs to get it's stuff together, or clear out! At this point, I have 2 possible positives, and a negative.

Now, knitting progress:

Shrug the second:

Here it is, waiting for a garter stitch edge. I seem to have misplaced the appropriately sized needles. This is a bit of a problem. I only have one set of 4.5mm needles. I was keeping them separate from all the other needles, so they would be easy to find. I think it's safe to say, that didn't really work out.
Look at it - it's so patient and sad, waiting to be finished . . . .


Fingerless gloves in Manos!
Mr. Wonderful's are done, and he has already commenced stretching them out. I just did a plain rib and made them to fit. Look how gigantic they are on my tiny paw!

Mine are Knitty's Fetching, and are still thumbless - but the Manos did finally agree . . . YAY!


And of course, the sweater. I haven't touched it this week. I have Manos, and a shrug to knit. I don't want to touch it! Don't make me touch it!!
It's sad though - I like the look of the stitch pattern, and how the fabric is coming out. I bet I'll love the sweater, it's just a righteous pain in the butt to knit!

Here is the cat, modeling the sweater.

It looks like very soon this will be my only WIP and then I'll have to work on it . . . or face knitting withdrawal. Ack.